Stallworth admitted he was legally drunk when he fatally struck a construction worker improperly crossing a Miami Beach causeway in March.

Stallworth reached a confidential settlement with the victim’s family, and they agreed to a quick resolution to the criminal case that let him avoid a potential 15-year prison sentence.

“He’s being punished appropriately,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told the Miami Herald. “This is what the family wanted.”

That’s where this gets uncomfortable.

Because let’s say Stallworth, a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, wasn’t wealthy. Let’s say the defendant was middle-class, and there was no settlement.

Without money, might the victim’s family have harder feelings and press for longer incarceration?

Since a victim’s family’s wishes are given considerable weight by prosecutors, that means the wealthy have a better chance of buying their way to sympathy and leniency than the non-wealthy.

That seems an unfair advantage.

Without doing a complete analysis of DUI manslaughter sentences for first-time criminal offenders, I can’t say for sure if the jail/prison time was out of whack. (If there are any lawyers or courtroom veterans out there who could give some perspective, feel free to chime in.)

But I do know plenty of people who’ve spent more than 30 days in jail on misdemeanor charges (not even convictions) of trespassing, shoplifting, public intoxication and resisting arrest. All were poor, and couldn’t afford the minimal bond to go free before the cases were resolved.

So you tell me there isn’t a double standard in our justice system.

One more thing to consider. Remember David Farrell, the former FBI agent involved in a crash on Interstate 95 that killed two brothers when one car was going the wrong way.

Farrell was acquitted of DUI manslaughter, but a Broward jury convicted him for DUI and reckless driving.

There is certainly a problem with our justice system. Sentences are very often unbalanced when compared against each other. The only real way to ensure that punishment is just is to compare apples to apples. Should a repeat offender (DUI) who kills someone be sentenced more harshly than Stallworth, yes. Should the Stallworth case be compared to Michael Vick's case (more jail time), no. The same goes for the Farrell case. Similar but different. The Stallworth situation was a horrible and tragic accident but it was indeed that, an accident. The man who was killed was running across a street and was hit by a car. Horrible yes, but he might have played a part in the accident and possibly could have avoided it. We'll never know for sure. Some people might not have been able to get past their hurt and anger and insisted that Stallworth sit in jail forever. The family involved here obviously felt that money to put their kids through college, pay their mortgage, etc. was something that could somehow offer some good to come of this. Putting Stallworth in jail for 15 years doesn't do anything but cost the taxpayers money for an accident. We put criminals in jail. Stallworth committed a criminal act by being drunk. Had he not been drunk, it is possible nothing at all might have come of this (from a legal standpoint - no jail) since it was an accident. A lot of people are up in arms about this sentence, but it was decided upon by the people involved - including the victim's family. That is the way the scales of justice tipped this time. For the next person who kills someone while driving drunk, we'll have to wait and see.

I think this has set back all the hard work MADD ha done to get drunk drivers off the road. Maybe if Stallworth had not been drunk he might have been able to avoid hitting the victim who ran in front of his car

Just proves what most of us have always known. The rich play by their own rules and the law allows them too!
If your average Joe would have done this he would be spending a helluva lot longer than 30 days in jail. To the prosecutor, you should get another job!

This just cracks me up. When the imbalance was across racial lines and in favor of whites, there was no brew ha ha. Now the imbalance is across econoic/income lines and whites are feeling the hit. I hope you lose sleep.

Marcus,
You're a two bit typical race baiter!
I personally won't loose any sleep over an insignificant troll such as yourself, but thanks for hoping!
You may find this hard to believe, but I personally did not give one ounce of thought to race in this issue. Now, I do understand that every fiber of your being relies on playing the race card at every possible opportunity, so to you of course it's your first and most important consideration. Mine was to the family that lost a father, I personally would be outraged beyond belief if some drunken POS ran over my father regardless what color he is...Now, climb back under your rock you insignificant troll!

This a complete outrage! Donte gets to walk away from killing somebody while driving under the influence of alchol. With all of the DUI check points set up and all of the money wasted to combat this problem LE lets the man off the hook! He should be in jail for life. And if this be the case we should demand a stiffer sentence in order to keep our loved ones alive. And whether or not the man was jaywalking it should not matter, he does not deserve to be killed by a drunk. I hope people will see this for what it is "a rich man walks while a poor man goes to jail"

I urge all to boycott NFL until these thugs start acting like Americans!!!!

I too believe there is a double standard as it relates to all parts of the justice system in the United States of America. There is the justice for the rich and one for the poor. Unfortunately if you are poor, you often receive a harsh punishment for the same crime committed by one who has all the "toys." However there is a higher authority, that has the ultimate say over the sins we commit in our walking life, this authority remember not the sins of yesterday, today, or tomorrow, and neither should we. I hope that he asked forgiveness from the family. Although it appears he has walked away clean this is something that this player will need to remember for the rest of his life. This in itself is punishment enough. Forgive, and move on, and allow the family to walk in faith knowing that there is a reason and purpose for all things.

I too believe there is a double standard as it relates to all parts of the justice system in the United States of America. There is the justice for the rich and one for the poor. Unfortunately if you are poor, you often receive a harsh punishment for the same crime committed by one who has all the "toys." However there is a higher authority, that has the ultimate say over the sins we commit in our walking life, this authority remember not the sins of yesterday, today, or tomorrow, and neither should we. I hope that he asked forgiveness from the family. Although it appears he has walked away clean this is something that this player will need to remember for the rest of his life. This in itself is punishment enough. Forgive, and move on, and allow the family to walk in faith knowing that there is a reason and purpose for all things.

Hey Micheal you are right. How many normal Joes who had a couple of beers and then were unlucky that a kid on a bike or a person who was not paying attention stepped out in front of there car. I had a friend this happened to. 8 years later he saw his kids and wife again. He had a spotless record but a young kid rode out in front of his car. He was very remorseful too. But he did not get 30 days he got 10 years. Did 8. Why is the Sunsentinel not investigating this . Someone got paid. 30 days you get for pissing in public. Wake up the editors.

Hey Micheal you are right. How many normal Joes who had a couple of beers and then were unlucky that a kid on a bike or a person who was not paying attention stepped out in front of there car. I had a friend this happened to. 8 years later he saw his kids and wife again. He had a spotless record but a young kid rode out in front of his car. He was very remorseful too. But he did not get 30 days he got 10 years. Did 8. Why is the Sunsentinel not investigating this . Someone got paid. 30 days you get for pissing in public. Wake up the editors.

Paying the family is a good start but he needs to do his time, loose his every day privledges, not be able to support his family. If keeping him out of jail saves the tax payer money...what about house arrest for a few years? Pay the family and then place him on severe house arrest so he understands what it is like to loose his life the way he knows it!!! NO NFL, NO INCOME, NO EVENTS, NO PROMOTIONS, NO PARTIES, NO VACATIONS, NO VISITORS (maybe family), AND CANNOT LEAVE THE HOUSE FOR ANY REASON.
That sentence he got was a joke!! I want to know who else got paid beind the scenes!

Paying the family is a good start but he needs to do his time, loose his every day privledges, not be able to support his family. If keeping him out of jail saves the tax payer money...what about house arrest for a few years? Pay the family and then place him on severe house arrest so he understands what it is like to loose his life the way he knows it!!! NO NFL, NO INCOME, NO EVENTS, NO PROMOTIONS, NO PARTIES, NO VACATIONS, NO VISITORS (maybe family), AND CANNOT LEAVE THE HOUSE FOR ANY REASON.
That sentence he got was a joke!! I want to know who else got paid beind the scenes!

Some recent court decisions are very disturbing, to say the least. As a law student, I was taught that the law was the law and although there could be various interpretations of a law, the law was still the law. When did getting suspended from your job become part of a criminal sentence in which the crime had nothing to do with a person's workplace? If I was to be quilty of a DUI or even a DUI Manslaughter charge, I could not get suspended or even fired from my job because of that. I should expect to do some serious jail time but being suspended from my job by my company would not be part of my sentence. When were victim's family members granted the authority to change the law? And, if such is the case, would it work the other way? If my father were killed by a drunk driver, would I be able to have the driver thrown in prison for the rest of his/her life? And not that I disagree with the sentence 'cause he's total sleazebag, but when someone gets 150 years in prison for stealing money and someone else gets 30 days for taking a life, what does that say about our priorities? Do we really think it's OK when someone kills another person while knowingly driving under the influence to just say, 'Oops, you used really poor judgment and, even though a man is dead, no big deal? Just make sure you never steal any money and you'll be OK.' And to the person who posted that "we should boycott the NFL until these thugs start acting like Americans," I afraid this has become the American way.

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About the author

MICHAEL MAYO has been the Sun-Sentinel's Broward news columnist since 2002. He is not a failed sports writer, as some detractors contend, just a lapsed one. He came to South Florida to cover sports in 1989. He now takes aim at everything under the sun. He was born in Brooklyn, went to college in Boston and has also lived in London and Spartanburg, S.C. His hobbies include losing weight (unsuccessfully) and losing golf balls (very successfully).